Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
NEWSTHE MURRAY STATE
M@TheMurrayStateNews @MurrayStateNews @TheMurrayStateNews @MurrayStateNewswww.TheNews.org Sept. 17, 2020 | Vol. 95, No. 4
STAND OUT FROM THE CROWD CONTACT US(270)[email protected]
YOUR AD
HERE
NewsOpinionSportsFeatures
page 2page 5page 6page 7
Important voting dates approach
And a little child shall lead them
Newcomb becomes manager of Miller Memorial
Golf Course
Non-traditional student achieves
her dream
page 5page 2 page 6 page 7
Photo courtesy of Sam AguiarPictured on the left is Sam Aguiar and his youngest son Owen and pitured on the right is the late Breonna Taylor.
Gage [email protected]
Sam Aguiar, Murray State alum-nus, helped bring about police re-form across Kentucky and $12 million to the family of Breonna Taylor, the Louisville woman shot and killed by police during a raid in March.
The settlement between the city of Louisville and the Taylor fam-ily was finalized on Tuesday, Sept. 15, six months and two days after Taylor was shot to death.
Immedia te l y f o l lowing he r death, while on vacation in Flor-ida, Aguiar received a phone call from Taylor’s parents.
“I got a call from the family that basically said ‘hey, our daughter got killed and we don’t know why and we want to figure out some answers, ’” Aguiar said. “And of course you hear the initial story and we know a guy fired shots at the cops and they fired back and immediately your radar goes up and you’re like ‘well, these cops are just going to claim self-defense,’ but the more they told us about Breonna and the type of person she was and about the atmosphere of the house and how it looked like a warzone, the more I just said ‘hey, we gotta look into this.’”
W hen Agu i a r r e tu r ned , he went to v is i t the cr ime scene and was appalled at what he ’d s een . W ith bu l l e t ho l e s d i s -persed al l over the apar tment and taking a look into the offi-cers involved, they saw immedi-ate red flags.
But with the pandemic st i l l raging on, the case didn’t receive much attention. However, after the Ahmaud Ar ber y c a se , in which Arbery was shot jogging near his home in Georgia, there
was national scrutiny regarding the murder.
Shortly after, a couple of activ-ists let it be known that Taylor’s case was not being paid attention and the case picked up steam.
Lonita Baker, who went to law school with Aguiar and had been working with him since 2017, joined in Aguiar’s efforts on the case and immediately built a tre-mendous relationship with Tay-lor’s family.
Ben Crump, a cr i t ica l l y ac-claimed attorney who specializ-es in civil rights and catastrophic personal injury cases and has rep-resented the families of Trayvon Martin, Ahmaud Arbery, Mar-tin Lee Anderson and is lead-ing George Floyd’s family’s legal team, then reached out and said he also wanted to help with the case.
Forming a three-headed snake of attorneys, Aguiar, Baker and Crump went straight to work on the Taylor family’s case.
They filed the lawsuit in April in order to get subpoena power to bypass denials that prevented them from receiving the police investigative files.
In June and July, there were multiple hearings in which the judge sided in their favor and files began to be turned over to Agu-iar and his legal team. As they continued to receive files, Aguiar continued to see red flags in the crime scene and investigation that let him know they could get any-thing they asked a jury for.
Aguiar recognized the killing was egregious and that even if the Attorney General and the FBI didn’t come back with charges, they had a strong civil lawsuit.
The case gained national atten-tion over the summer when the WNBA dedicated its season to
Taylor; NBA players dedicated their post-game interviews to her as well; and ‘Justice for Breonna’ protests erupted throughout the country.
This l e t Aguiar, Baker and Crump know that justice for Tay-lor was not the only endgame in this case—it was to help put the city back together, which couldn’t be done until there was a reso-lution for Taylor’s case in Agu-iar’s eyes. Tamika Palmer, Taylor’s mother, couldn’t have agreed more.
“Tamika Palmer, since day one, said that she wanted two things,” Aguiar said. “She wanted to know the truth about what happened to her daughter and she wanted to make sure that there was re-form implemented that reduced the likelihood of any other moth-er having to go through what she went through.”
Aguiar said they’ve been digging for truth and gotten most of it and when the public hears it, it will make them sick to their stomach.
In order to help reflect change within the Louisville Police De-partment, the trio of attorneys proposed some legislation and ideas for the city to implement.
“We laid out a list of like 20 things,” Aguiar said. “We decid-ed that like five of them the city would do if they could, but they can’t . It ’s going to have to go through legislation, so we pro-posed some legislation. The other 15, we said ‘these are things that can happen now that will impact the way search warrants are con-ducted, that will promote public safety, that will establish integrity within the police department and will incentivize the police depart-ment to get more into the com-munities they actually patrol.”
Aguiar said they told the city from the beginning that if city
officials were not willing to look at the police reform component of the proposal, then it was off the table.
After the proposal was made, the city approved 12 of the 15 ac-tion items they’d asked for.
“It took several weeks of back-and-forth to finalize it, but there was never much tension there,” Aguiar said. “The city was ready to start healing, the city was ready to acknowledge that the crimi-nal case was going to do what the criminal case was going to do, but regardless, Breonna shouldn’t have gotten killed and there were vio-lations of civil rights laws that led up to that. Any time you get a set-tlement they always put a clause that says ‘we don’t admit any fault,’ but let’s face it, they wouldn’t have paid $12 million dollars and giv-en us 12 items of reform if they didn’t think they did anything wrong.”
In addition to letting the po-lice chief go, initiatives for reform which you can find in the full ar-ticle on www.TheNews.org..
Along with reform, Aguiar said while his and Palmer’s goals were not mainly about money, he hopes this will help the city think twice before implementing more aggres-sive tactics in the future, because it will cost the city financially.
Despite completing the settle-ment, Aguiar was not overcome with joy right away. The thought of “did I leave something on the table” or whether the city would think Palmer was doing this for the wrong reasons sat in the back of his mind, not to mention the backlash from some citizens via social media after the announce-ment of the settlement.
Alumnus brings closure to Taylor family
see ALUMNUS, page 4
News2 Sept. 17, 2020
8/28
Police Beat is compiled with material from the Murray State Crime and Fire Log.
Not all dispatched calls are listed.
9/5
2:18 P.M.
College CourtsTheft was reported after a bicycle was stolen on Sept. 6. The investigation was suspended pending other evidence.
9/8 2:29 P.M.
Hester CollegePossession of marijuana was reported. Subject was referred for administrative action.
12:08 A.M.Chestnut Street and Gilbert Graves DrivePossession of alcohol by a minor was report-ed. Subject was reported to a court designated worker.
6:56 P.M.Alexander HallTheft, fraudulent use of a credit card and receiving stolen property under $500 were reported after a credit card was stolen from a purse and used at a local business. The investigation is still open.
9/2
11:32 A.M.Hart CollegeFraudulent use of a credit card was reported after someone used another’s person credit card without permission on Aug. 29. Prosecution was declined.
11:10 P.M.Richmond CollegeTheft was reported after laundry was taken. The investigation is still open.
7:55 P.M.College Courts Parking LotTheft was reported after contents were stolen from a vehicle on Aug. 28. The investigation is still open.
8/31 4:59 P.M.
Residential CollegeRape was reported on the residential college side of campus. No criminal complaint was received.
8:40 P.M.15th and Olive LotA person was found to be in possession of marijuana. A citation was issued.
11:49 P.M.Hester CollegeA person was found to be in possession of marijuana. A citation was issued.
9/1
Colton Colglazier/The News
Important Voting Dates
Voter registration deadlne: Oct. 5Absentee ballot request deadline: Oct. 9
Early voting: Oct. 13 - Nov. 2
Election Day: Nov. 3
Absentee ballot submission deadline: Postmarked by Nov. 3
Ben OverbyContrbuting [email protected]
Kentucky voters have more options to participate in the general election on Nov. 3 than previous years because of COVID-19.
Drew Seib, associate professor of political science and interim depart-ment chair, provided insight into both the importance of taking part in the electoral process and how students can participate in this year’s election.
While Murray State has helped keep campus COVID-19 cases low, some students who vote in Murray are worried about their voting options if Murray State has to transition to virtual-only instruction. While Seib is optimistic that this transition won’t happen, he recommends students ap-ply for an absentee ballot as soon as possible.
“You can request your absentee bal-lot now, but the state of Kentucky is not sending out ballots yet,” Seib said. “They should be sending them out re-ally soon. They are in the process of printing at the moment. The deadline to request them is Oct. 9.”
Seib said whether students plan to vote in person or by mail, the most important thing is to have a plan. The last day to register to vote in the gen-eral election is Oct. 5.
Seib also said rhetoric about more absentee ballots opening up the door for mass voter fraud is not based in fact and should not deter people from the method.
“There have been investigations into potential fraud and very little comes out of it,” Seib said. “As some-one who teaches about democracy and ensuring democratic legitimacy, but also someone who studies voters and elections, it’s not something I’m concerned about.”
Seib also emphasized the impor-tance of Murray State students and young people in general participating in elections. Seib said the political priorities of younger and older voters, even within the same political party, can vary greatly.
Seib discussed an older person’s likeliness to care about social secu-rity and a younger person’s likeliness to care more about making educa-tion affordable as an example. Be-cause older people turn out in larger
numbers to vote, politicians focus more on their needs. However, Seib said if young people become a more powerful political force, it could alter the priorities of politicians.
“Long term, the youth are going to have to take on the consequences of the policies we choose to enact,” Seib said.
Govoteky.com directs people to the website for the Office of the Secretary of State of Kentucky which includes information about the various voting options for Kentuckians. The first op-tion is absentee ballot by mail.
“Kentuckians concerned with con-tracting or spreading COVID-19 can request a ballot by mail,” according to the website.
Ballots can be requested through the website until Oct. 9. In order for these ballots to count, they must be postmarked by election day on Nov. 3 and received by Nov. 6. Dropbox lo-cations, determined by county clerks, will be available for those worried about postal delays, according to the website
Voting Kentuckians also have the option of voting early.
“Beginning Oct. 13, three weeks before the election, every work day between Oct. 13 and Election Day, and every Saturday for at least four hours, every county clerk will provide a location for safe in-person voting,” according to the website.
It is also clarified that early voting differs from absentee voting. Anyone can vote early for any reason.
Voting in person on Election Day is the voter’s last option. County elec-tion officials will be deciding election sites for Election Day, according to the website. Additionally, every coun-ty will have at least one voting super center where people can vote regard-less of precinct.
Photo ID will be required, with exceptions.
“Kentuckians who were unable to get a driver’s licenses or photo ID due to the pandemic because their clerk’s office was closed, or because they were afraid of exposing themselves to COVID-19, can sign a document explaining this concern and cast their ballot,” according to the website.
Voting information, the absentee ballot request portal and voter reg-istration are available on govoteky.com.
Important voting dates approach
4 P.M.
Residential CollegeRape was reported on Aug. 28. No criminal complaint received.
Gage Johnson/The News
3Sept. 17, 2020 News
Daniella TebibNews [email protected]
In compliance with Gov. Andy Beshear’s and Public Health Com-missioner Steven Stack’s require-ments for reporting COVID-19 cases, President Bob Jackson said the Murray State COVID-19 dash-board will be updated twice per week.
Jackson said University adminis-tration communicates with the Cal-loway County Health Department daily and receives regular guidance from Stack and other state and fed-eral officials.
During Beshear’s media briefing on Monday, Sept. 14, the new plan to report and track COVID-19 cas-es on college and university cam-puses in Kentucky was unveiled. On Wednesday, Sept. 16, Beshear reported there have been a total of 2,396 positive student cases and 83 positive faculty/staff cases based on information from 34 public and pri-vate institutions in Kentucky.
Stack discussed the details of the new reporting system the govern-ment is asking higher education institutions to adhere to because of their close proximity and relation to the communities they belong to.
Since students of colleges and universities are also members of the community, Stack said he has been treating them as part of the com-munity. Because there is a lack of distinction between college and university students and the com-munities they live in, the guide-lines for reporting and handling of COVID-19 is different from the standards K-12 schools are expect-ed to abide by.
“In discussing with college and university presidents, each of these institutions has different resource bases, different approaches and plans they’ve tailored to their com-munities,” Stack said. “I asked them, given the choice between me archi-tecting a solution that we put to them all or them adhering all vol-untarily to the minimum expecta-tions for dashboard for what they would do, and they have risen to the challenge.”
To ensure transparency with Kentucky residents and to track COVID-19 cases on campuses
across the commonwealth, the Kentucky Department for Public Health has developed two easily accessible resources.
The KDPH has compiled the COVID-19 dashboards of each college and university in Kentucky. The full list, including links, of each COVID-19 dashboard can be found on TheNews.org.
The KDPH also reports verified COVID-19 information from 36 colleges and universities daily. The report can be found on TheNews.org. However, some of the numbers the KDPH reports do not match the self-reporting COVID-19 dash-boards of colleges and universities.
“We do the best we can, but there’s a lot of different people collecting numbers,” Stack said. “I would use this information as a re-liable way to find out information we’ve been able to verify and put here. This is not rumor; this is us talking to people and confirming the data. The colleges and univer-sities are doing their own parallel version of what we’re asking K-12 to do.”
M. Christopher Brown II, pres-ident of Kentucky State Universi-ty, also spoke at the media briefing about how colleges and universities have been handling the reporting of COVID-19 information.
“Higher education in the com-monwealth is unlike K-12,” Brown said. “It’s comprised of public and private four-year colleges, com-munity colleges, barber and beauty schools, trade academies and even research hospitals. So, unlike K-12, elementary and high schools, stu-dents attend our colleges by choice. They pay, in fact, for the opportu-nity to attend. As a result, we oper-ate like non-profit or not-for-profit businesses in the commonwealth. While higher education does not have a clear mandate or guidance, we are operating under the health at work and that has been a blueprint for our success.”
Brown said the only way higher education institutions can contin-ue to operate is through contact tracing.
“We have been relying on pub-lic health and the contact tracers that the governor has provided and working with our health depart-ments to make sure we are keeping
track of the rise and incidents in the population,” Brown said.
Deborah Birx, a member of the White House’s Coronavirus Task Force, was appointed the nation’s Coronavirus response coordinator by the Trump administration. Birx visited the University of Kentucky’s campus on Sept. 14 for a press conference regarding the status of COVID-19 on campuses in the commonwealth.
Birx applauded the plans Ken-tucky universities and colleges have put in place to reduce the trans-mission of COVID-19, but she said it is also up to the students as individuals.
“In the end, universities can have incredibly brilliant plans, but unless the students are part of that plan, have bought into that plan and are wil l ing to fol low the critical behaviors that we’re asking every student to follow, not only on campus but off cam-pus, to ensure that transmission doesn’t occur, then it will occur,” Birx said.
Birx said she believes the ma-jority of infections on col lege campuses are not happening be-cause of the decisions to hold in-person classes but because of activities happening off campus.
“We’ve now seen throughout the summer that these infections are brought into institutions due to what happens off campus and in communities,” Birx said. “This i s about rea l l y ensur ing that there’s good behavior on campus and good behavior off campus.”
Birx also said she thinks it would be more dangerous for campuses to close and send students home based on campus closures across the coun-try. Despite closing campuses, most students did not return home. In-stead, a majority of them stayed in
their college or university town in community and rental housing.
“It ’s actually at this point more dangerous to both the students and the communities to have universi-ties close or create the perception of closure of going exclusively online,” Birx said. “Then you’ll have students distributed throughout the commu-nity without real linkages to each other and the psychosocial support they need from in-person class-es, and also the psychosocial sup-port of those caring for them when they turn positive or have to be in quarantine.”
Jackson said University adminis-tration is happy with the campus community’s cooperation regard-ing the Racer Safe and Healthy Guidelines.
“I want to thank our students, faculty and staff for working hard to keep our COVID-19 infection rates low and adhering to guide-lines in order to keep our campus safe and healthy,” Jackson said. “This has not been easy in all cas-es. We meet or communicate with our campus community near ly every day, and in most instanc-es. We are very pleased with the adherence to the Racer Safe and Healthy Guidelines.”
As of press time, Murray State has reported 95 total positive COVID-19 cases on campus out of the 486 confirmed cases in Cal-loway County. Based on data col-lected from Murray State and the Calloway County Health Depart-ment, Murray State COVID-19 cases account for approximately 20 percent of Calloway County’s total cases.
For the week of Sept. 7, to Sept. 13, Murray State reported zero faculty/staff cases, 23 student cas-es, 68 recoveries and 95 total cas-es since Aug. 1. Murray State’s COVID-19 dashboard can be found on TheNews.org.
As of press time, the Calloway County Health Department re-ported 487 total confirmed cases with 434 recoveries, 41 isolated at home, three hospitalizations and nine deaths.
COVID-19 case information is reported on TheNews.org and our social media platforms as they are updated by the University and Health Department.
Governor updates campus COVID-19 reporting guidelines
Screenshot of Gov. Andy Beshear’s livestreamPublic Health Commissioner Steven Stack discussed the new reporting tools to help track COVID-19 on Monday, Sept. 14 during Gov. Beshear’s daily press briefing.
It’s actually at this
point more dangerous to both the students
and the communities to have universities close or create the perception
of close of going exclusively online.
- Deborah Birx, Coronavirus response coordinator
Murray State plans to report COVID-19 cases twice a week
News4 Sept. 17, 2020
ALUMNUSFrom Page 1
However, after the press confer-ence was held, in which Palmer spoke, the community seemed to back Taylor’s family.
“When we gave the press con-ference yesterday, after that peo-ple could really see the convic-tion with her, with the legal team and the city ’s office, that this is just the first step,” Aguiar said. “That ’s when all of a sudden the environment changed. Ultimately at the end of the day, it ’s a phe-nomenal result, but if this is the only thing that comes out of Bre-onna Taylor’s killing, it is a tre-mendous failure.”
With the officers as the defen-dants in the civil case, the city had to evaluate the conduct of the officers when they were de-termining whether to settle the case. However, then the case was out of the city’s hands.
“We don’t have any leverage at the bargaining table to talk about charging the officers,” Aguiar
said. “We did reiterate that we think these officers should be fired, but ultimately we’ve got a lot of state law protection on that too. We’ve got a really strong po-lice unit and a really strong state law that affords too many protec-tions to police officers.”
Though the officers not be-ing fired is a let down to the trio of attorneys, Palmer feels good about the result of the settlement.
Aguiar sat down with Palmer on Monday to discuss the set-tlement before finalizing it, say-ing that reassurance was needed as she didn’t want to do anything that Taylor would not like, but in the end they finalized it with the understanding that it was one way to uphold Taylor’s legacy.
Going forward, the trio of at-torneys and three law students have proposed legislation includ-ing rules about drug and alcohol tests being issued to officers af-ter shootings, officers being ter-minated if something warrants it, that it be state law that all officers wear body cameras and that there be a statewide ban on no-knock search warrants despite the fact
“Breonna’s Law” was passed by Louisville Council shortly after Taylor’s death.
And while the trio of attor-neys and Palmer have brought forth such change with this set-tlement, Aguiar says it has to be made known this was an initiative made by a united stand amongst citizens across the country.
“I think what this case has re-vealed too is that peaceful pro-test, when done correctly, really does work,” Aguiar said. “Because I don’t want to sit here and sug-gest this was just Tamika Palm-er, Lonita Baker, myself and Ben Crump. This was the entire coun-try’s collective voice begging for change and demanding change that resulted in this.”
Aguiar said it ’s amazing that they were able to do something really historic with this case, with one of the most talked about civil cases in recent memory.
“I think it ’s a testament to hav-ing a conscience to being willing to fight the hard fight and do-ing things for the right reasons,” Aguiar said. “We never said we were going to go and be a civil
rights firm to go get $12 million results, we said that we’re going to do civil rights cases because somebody needs to be a voice for these people.”
He said part of preventing in-cidents like Taylor ’s in the fu-ture lies in continued reform, as well as making sure the young-er generation is not raised into systemic racism, among other things.
H e a l s o s a i d w o rd s a r e n’t enough to solve racism across the country with a black Amer-ica that has been oppressed for over 400 years.
“I do think that reform is so cr it ical ,” Aguiar said. “You’ve gotta put people in office that aren’t going to have any toler-ance for police corruption, for systemic racism, for oppressive-ness, for poverty and you got-ta find the right people that are going to do that. The problem that I have with politics r ight now is you hear a lot of words, but I’m an ‘action speaks loud-er than words’ kind of guy you know, so you can say all this and you can say all that, but do it.”
Photo courtesy of Sam AguiarPictured on the left is Breonna Taylor’s family and on the right is Sam Aguiar and his two sons Evan and Owen at an NFL game.
Photo courtesy of Sonja Wilde-de Vries via FacebookAlumnus Sam Aguiar spoke at a press conference where his team, which represented the family of Breonna Taylor in the civil lawsuit against the city of Louisville, introduced proposed state legislation on police reform.
5Sept. 17, 2020 OpiniOn
TheNewswelcomescommentariesandletterstotheeditor.Submissionsshouldbe600wordsorless,andcontributorsshouldincludephonenumbersforverification.Pleaseincludehometown,classificationandtitleorrelation-shiptotheUniversity.TheNewsreservestherighttoeditforstyle,lengthandcontent.Noanonymouscontributionswillbeaccepted.AllcontributionsshouldbeturnedinbynoononMondayofeachweekviaemailtomreyn-olds12@murraystate.edu.
ContributionstoTheNewsaretheopinionoftheauthorandnotthatofTheMurrayStateNews.TheNewsisadesignatedpublicforum.Studenteditorshaveauthoritytomakeallcontentdecisionswithoutcensorshiporadvanceapproval.Thepaperoffersahands-onlearningenvironmentforstudentsin-terestedinjournalism.Thecampuspressshouldbefreefromcensorshipandadvanceapprovalofcopyanditseditorsshoulddeveloptheireditorialandnewspolicies.
TheNewsstrivestobetheUniversitycommunity’ssourceforinforma-tion.Ourgoalistopresentthatinformationinafairandunbiasedmannerandprovideafreeandopenforumforexpressionanddebate. TheNewsispreparedandeditedbystudentsandisanofficialpubli-cationofMurrayStateUniversity.Thefirstcopyisfree.Additionalcopiesareavailablefor25centsat111WilsonHall.
Editorial Board Gage Johnson Danilla Tebib Cady Stribling Dr. Stephanie Anderson Editor-in-Chief NewsEditor FeaturesEditor [email protected] [email protected] [email protected]@murraystate.edu
Jenna Carnes Allison Manning Jillian Rush Contact UsChiefCopyEditor AdSalesManager PhotoEditor 2609 University [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] MurrayStateUniversity Murray,Kentucky42071-3301Kalea Anderson Elizabeth Erwin John O’Neill TheNews.org ChiefVideographer PublicRelationsManager OnlineManager [email protected]@murraystate.edu [email protected]
And a little child shall lead them Robert [email protected]
I wonder if you are like me. Most people are, despite our many variations. See how similar we might be.
When I first heard the phrase, “Black Lives Matter,” I have to ad-mit that my first thought was, “Of course they do. They are lives, ar-en’t they?”
I am an ol’ college debater, so words mean a great deal to me. The right word can win an argument; the wrong use of a word can lead to confusion and loss. My obses-sion with word meanings and uses drives my friends nuts — those who are not ol’ college debaters. Still, as my wife says with a voice of resignation, “It’s who you are.”
So, are you like me? After I thought about it, I de-
cided that “Black Lives Matter” was not really what was intended. What should have been said was, “Black Lives Matter Just as Much as Yours.”
Of course, that’s a bit longer even if it’s just as true. Now, how-ever, it was being addressed only to people who were not Black. In
fact, everyone needs to be aware of the sentiment. It was getting com-plicated, even though the princi-ple is quite simple and very easy to understand: there is no person whose life is not sacred.
I find that easy to believe, be-cause I grew up with The Declara-tion of Arboath. My dad was born in Arbroath, Scotland, in 1904. We often talked about his heritage, of which he was justifiably proud. The Declaration was a big deal.
In 1320, the King of England was planning to invade Scotland. He asked the Pope’s blessing, claiming the the Scots were crude, dangerous, irreligious people who needed his guidance. The Scottish leaders gathered at the abbey in Arbroath and wrote their own let-ter to the Pope, arguing that they should not be subjugated by En-gland, and vowing to fight. And then they explained why:
“It is in truth not for glory, nor riches, nor honours, that we are fighting, but for freedom — for that alone, which no honest man gives up but with life itself.”
Scottish descendants believe that is the first time that anyone declared that every person is born with freedom at the very core of
being. No one can deny your free-dom, and you will be free until you die. We’re very proud of that.
But no one wants to hear an ol’ college debater talk about the Declaration of Arbroath and, de-spite the best efforts of teacher and coaches, I could not come up with a useful improvement on “Black Lives Matter.” Of course they do; it’s a truism.
And that a little girl in Paris, Ten-nessee, was photographed holding a big while poster on which had been written these words: “WE SAID — Black Lives Mat-terNEVER SAID — Only Black Lives Matter WE KNOW — All Lives Matter”
We just need your help with #Black Live s Matter for Black Lives Are in Danger.
Young Armani Williams is a lovely little girl. She’s got a smile that would light up the court square at midnight. By now her photo, taken by Sarah Wills of Paris, has probably been seen by nearly one million people — may-be more. Who knows about things that go viral?
Her hand-printed sign says it better than anyone can put it. The
lives of free people are in danger, and that is not right. There is not a true Scot on the face of the earth who cannot empathize with Ar-mani. There should not be a true American who cannot respond to a fellow citizen in danger, either, regardless of who that person is, what he or she believes, who their forebears were — life alone is the measure.
The Hebrew prophet Isaiah foresaw a future filled with peace where the lion would lie down with the lamb . . . “and a little child shall lead them.”
Was Isaiah thinking about young Armani Williams? If you’re like me, you might think so.
Letter to the editor
The News welcomes commentaries and letters to the editor. We are also hiring for an Opinion Editor. Contact Gage Johnson
We want to hear from you!
Got opinions?
. . . freedom - for that alone, which
no honest man gives up but with
life itself.
“
”
Contributed
SportS6 Sept. 17, 2020
Simon ElfrinkStaff [email protected]
With his playing days behind him, former Racer golfer Nick Newcomb took a position as the pro-shop manager at the golf course he played on for years—Miller Memorial Golf Course.
Newcomb, who was pivotal in the rebuilding of the Racers’ men’s golf program, found him-self getting a callback to Miller Memorial after taking over after Director Will Snodgrass retired.
“I am thrilled to be able to come back to Murray State for this op-portunity,” Newcomb said. “Golf
is my passion, and I am very hap-py to be part of the team that cares for this great golf course at Miller Memorial.”
After Snodgrass retired, New-comb got the opportunity to in-terview for and eventually occupy the vacant position. He had been running the Benton Country Club golf course for the last sev-eral years, so when the opportu-nity came to work closer to home he felt he was more than ready to come back to Miller Memorial.
“It feels good to be back here,” Newcomb said. “I really like Murray. Me and my wife have been living here for the past two
years. We had a house in Mur-ray even when I was traveling to Benton every day. I’m just happy to be back and I’m really enjoying it so far.”
As a golfer for Murray State, Newcomb had the opportunity to play on the Miller Memori-al Course, where he found great success in his four-year collegiate career from 2007-10. In his time with the Racers, Newcomb placed first in the OVC Tournament in both 2008 and 2010. Newcomb and his younger brother Patrick Newcomb helped the Racers win the OVC Championship in 2010 as well. The Newcomb broth-
ers were inducted into the Racer Hall of Fame for their feats with their golf clubs.
As shop manager, Newcomb will be responsible for organizing events, internal affairs, inventory, sales, marketing and promotion of the course.
Newcomb said Snodgrass kept the course in great shape and that while there’s a lot of marketing and public relations that needs to be done to get people back on the course in the wake of COVID-19, Snodgrass set the bar high for Newcomb, who hopes he can fol-low suit and run Miller Memorial as well as his predecessor.
Former Racer returns homeNewcomb becomes manager of Miller Memorial Golf Course
Photo courtesy of Racer Athletics/Dave WinderNick Newcomb is leaving the Benton Country Club golf course to manage Miller Memorial Golf Course.
Koclanakis earns preseason honorsJakob MilaniContributing [email protected]
With his senior season quick-ly approaching, senior linebacker Anthony Koclanakis was named to the Stats Perform FCS Presea-son All-America Third Team.
The preseason nod adds to Ko-clanakis’ plethora of accolades he has accrued during his Murray State career.. After being a 2019 First-Team All-OVC selection, he was also named to the 2020 Preseason All-OVC team, 2020 HERO sports preseason All-OVC team and the Phil Steele Preseason All-America and All-OVC teams.
In 2019, Koclanakis was a start-er for all 12 of the Racers’ games. He was the league leader in tackles in the OVC with 124, with 63 of them being solo tackles. He aver-aged 10.3 tackles per game, rank-ing 11th across the country, with 5.3 solo tackles per game, ranking 20th in the country.
Koclanakis was also a problem for backfields last season, lead-ing the Racers with 9.5 tackles-for-loss and posted an additional 3.0 sacks. He finished the season with seven 10-plus tackle games,
and posted a career high 18 tack-les in two of those games. Other impressive stats for Koclanakis in 2019 include two fumble recover-
ies and an interception.Koclanakis is one of the 101
players across 56 different schools from 13 FCS conferences to be
named to the Stats Perform FCS Preseason All-America teams. At this time Murray State doesn’t have its schedule released.
Photo courtesy of Racer Athletics/Dave WinderAnthony Koclanakis makes a tackle in a game against SEMO.
7Sept. 17, 2020 Features
Mason GalemoreContributing [email protected]
Everyone has a story, but Patricia Eskridge, a 60-year-old non-tradi-tional senior, has a unique story filled with resilience and redemption.
After receiving double brain sur-gery, Eskridge said her biggest regret if she had died would have been not receiving her doctorate degree, so she chose to attend Murray State to study psychology. Despite the hardships of relearning the most basic functions, she is on the path to graduation.
Eskridge grew up on a farm in Me-tropolis, Illinois, where her mother made clothing for the entire family by hand. Like clockwork, Eskridge and her large family would attend church every Sunday and Wednesday nights.
“I was the youngest of seven chil-dren,” Eskridge said “We basically raised all our own food and had to buy very little from the store.”
At a young age, Eskridge gained interest in how the human mind works, and this interest continued to grow as she did.
“I was interested in how the mind works, why people think the way they do and why individuals raised by the same parents make very different choices,” Eskridge said.
When Eskridge was only 25 years old, she began experiencing severe migraines, which were fol-lowed by years of trial and error of seeking treatment for her condi-tion. No treatment seemed to help her.
“The medical advice was medica-tion along with to stay in a dark, quiet room and let it wear off,” Es-kridge said.
She tried this treatment for years then finally decided to go to Van-derbilt University Medical Center
in Tennessee, but they too had no other treatment options for her.
In 2005, Eskridge’s symptoms had worsened to the point of incoherence, and her memory and cognitive skills had taken a turn for the worse.
“All I remember is my friend saying ‘you have been in bed for three days. I am going out to feed the horses and if you are not up when I get back you are going to the doctor,’” Eskridge said.
When her friend returned Eskridge was still in bed and she was then tak-en to the hospital where she received double brain surgery.
She remembers nothing of the journey to the hospital, preparing for surgery or that she was going to have a procedure at all.
“All I know is when I woke up my friend told me I had double brain surgery and to take my hands down from my head because half of my head was shaved, half staples and half stitched,” she said.
Eskridge had to relearn how to walk, speak, write and even eat after her surgery. Despite her psychological state, she could still retain numbers and codes as a result of working in a bank for several years.
“I could tell you anything that I knew before the surgery with num-bers,” Eskridge said. “I could still re-cite it and even now I can not retain anything, but anything with numbers I can.”
Her main motivation for recov-ery was being able to go home and be with her family. Before she could achieve that, Eskridge had to com-plete a scavenger hunt to prove she was ready.
“The nurse gave me a certain amount of money and told me to go to a specific floor and buy her some coffee, and I had to make sure I got the correct change back and I had to take the stairs,” Eskridge said. “I also
had to go to another floor and count the fish in an aquarium.”
After completing several other tasks in a 15-minute period, Eskridge passed the test and was finally able to return home. Her recovery was not complete, however, because it took another eight months for her to be able to function on her own.
After years of recovering, Eskridge decided to pursue her passion in psy-chology. Not being able to pursue this passion would have been her biggest regret if she had died.
“I would regret not getting my doc-torate in psychology,” Eskridge said. “My doctor assigned me with the task of getting my transcripts and find-ing out what it would take to get into school.”
In 2016, Eskridge started school at Murray State. She assimilated into the college lifestyle while relearning things that seemed foreign to her.
“Everything was so elementary,” Eskridge said. “I was relearning ev-erything for the very first time. When I started at Murray I didn’t even know what a laptop was. Talk about a challenge. Everything takes twice as long.”
Eskridge has received help from her ac-ademic advisors and her professors. She stresses the importance of good commu-nication between students and professors.
“While attending Murray State, net-work as much as possible, do not be afraid to ask all the questions and use all your professors and career services as resources to help you to succeed and obtain your goals,” Eskridge said.
Along with her academics, Eskridge is a part of the National Society of Leader-ship and Success. She also cares for her 93-year-old mother.
“Everyday I can care for her is a true blessing for me,” Eskridge said. “Really isn’t that what psychology is all about: be-ing a service to others. It needs to start at home.”
Eskridge also gave advice for students with disabilities.
“Talk with your professors and let them know exactly what your needs are,” Es-kridge said. “They really do make them-selves accessible to the students and they really care. If you are a student with a dis-ability, go to the office of students with disabilities. They will advise you on what you need to do to get the help you need, whether it be a tutor or individual note taker or supplies.”
Non-traditional student achieves her dream
Photo Courtesy of Patricia Eskridge
Patricia Eskridge said her family, including her son pictured above, was her motivation for recovery.
Features8 Sept. 17, 2020
Contestant to be crowned for 50th Ms. MSUCady StriblingContributing [email protected]
The year’s Ms. Murray State Uni-versity pageant will be unlike any of the other 49 that came before it.
Ms. MSU was originally set for April 11 last semester but was put on pause when the pandemic forced students to pack it up. Now resched-uled for this semester, the pageant will take place on Saturday, Sept. 19, with a few changes in place.
Rather than an audience cheer-ing the contestants on in person, the event will be livestreamed. Mollie Beck, junior elementary education major, said a virtual event still gives them the opportunity to reach many people through social media.
Beck, who is representing Alpha Gamma Delta, said the girls are competing in person in the Cur-ris Center Large Ballroom and will wear masks. Each contestant will be 6 feet apart at all times.
“We are abiding by the Racer Re-start plan, and are to wear masks the entire pageant,” Beck said. “It is not what I expected when I applied in November, but I am so honored to still be able to experience Ms. Mur-ray State.”
Each contestant was nominated by their respective organization last November then interviewed by a panel of judges made up of members from multiple departments at Mur-ray State. From these interviews, the top 15 contestants were chosen to compete.
Isabel DiSalvo, junior elementary education major representing Sigma Sigma Sigma, said the top 15 be-gan practicing last semester before everyone was sent home in March. DiSalvo said since this semester has begun, the contestants will have had only three practices before the event Saturday.
“We all have been looking for-ward to having this pageant and are so excited we still get to have it,” DiSalvo said. “As much as we would all love to have our families and friends there, it isn’t possible with COVID-19 guidelines. We all understand this and are just glad we still get to have the pageant.”
The contestants will undergo an interview and deliver a one-minute speech Saturday morning. For the pageant Saturday evening, they will compete in their evening gowns, and the top five contestants will deliver their speeches to the audience. Af-ter the speeches, all contestants will come together and the awards will be given out.
Amara Stroud, senior secondary English education major, said she had some pageant experience when she was little when she won Little Miss Muhlenberg County in 2005.
Stroud is representing Hart Resi-dential College Council.
When the pageant was supposed to be last semester, Stroud had im-mediately prepared her speech, prac-ticed walking and speech skills and hemmed her old prom dress. When the pageant was put on pause, Stroud said she had to keep practicing once or twice a week on the interview and public speaking skills to keep her mind sharp.
Stroud is very excited for the speaking portion because her speech is very personal to her. She said it has been wonderful tapping into some of her great childhood mem-ories and she cannot wait to share those with the judges.
Stroud is happy that Ms. MSU will take place virtually.
“I think that it is really cool that we have the technology to support virtual events like Ms. MSU,” Stroud said. “I am really thankful that Em-ily Perry, our pageant director, and Jeanie Morgan have worked so hard
to make sure this Murray State tra-dition can happen—even if the cir-cumstance isn’t normal. Emily and Jeanie actually bought all of us girls lace masks with our numbers em-broidered on them—they are su-per cute. We will be wearing them during our speech and throughout the pageant.”
Stroud said these masks were a sweet gesture from Perry and Mor-gan to go out of their way to do for the contestants.
“I have made wonderful connec-tions, friends and memories that I will always remember,” Stroud said. “Though things aren’t necessarily normal, I know this will be a great experience.”
Stroud says she gives all props to Perry and Morgan who have worked so hard to ensure this long-lived tradition is a success under the circumstances.
Perry recently graduated from Murray State and has returned to receive her master’s degree in post-secondary education administration.
“I participated in Ms. MSU in 2019,” Perry said. “It was tru-ly the experience of a lifetime and
something I never would have seen myself doing as a freshman. I never thought of myself as someone who would do a pageant, but Ms. MSU is different because it focuses on the academic and involvement as-pects of contestants.”
This is Perry’s first time direct-ing the pageant and said it is even more fun to direct than to be in it. Perry said each contestant was so easy to work with, especial-ly with the changes because of COVID-19, and she has gained 15 new friends.
“I am most excited for these con-testants to show how amazing they are,” Perry said. “Not everyone got to see the amazing resilience and determination they had when it came to having a pageant in the middle of a pandemic, but I know their positive qualities will be put on display on Saturday night, and I couldn’t be more excited for them to finally get their shining moment.”
The pageant will be live-streamed on YouTube at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 19, or go to murraystate.edu/streaming to watch.
Photo courtesy of Emily PerryThe top 15 contestants for Ms. MSU will compete on Saturday, Sept. 19, wearing masks and distancing.
